Church Law and Society in the Middle Ages (CLASMA)

Canon law touched the life of every inhabitant of Western Europe in the Middle Ages: it could protect the murderer, it allowed for the speedy resolution of conflicts over debt, it developed an anthropology of human sexuality in its attempts to guarantee that marriage lived up to its high Christian ideals, and in many ways salvation itself was a matter of law. The later medieval papacy functioned increasingly as a source of this law. Between 1200 and 1300, the majority of cardinals and popes were not graduates in theology, but canon law. The personnel of embassies in international diplomacy were selected from university law graduates, such that the very language of inter-state discourse became a legal language, and one of its principal components was canon law.
Historians routinely encounter this language and equally routinely avoid it for lack of grammar. CLASMA has two aims: to make medieval canon law more accessible to historians and to create an environment of research and instruction to remove obstacles for scholars wishing to approach canon law as an opportunity for enhancing their understanding of the past.
For non-specialists, canon law invokes the spectre of philology. It is commonly assumed that no use can be made of canon law sources because of the instability of manuscript traditions. It is as if nothing can be done by the general historian until prior questions are solved about who wrote what where and when. Sometimes these misgivings are justified. Before the twelfth century, the provenance of even the most famous canon law collections is often in doubt. Thanks to the diversity of experience of its members, CLASMA is unique as a research group in addressing both this earlier period in European history and the period beginning with the renaissance of the twelfth century, when law became a professional's discipline.
CLASMA's principal aim is to introduce a wider audience of medievalists to the sources from this academic and professional culture, a proportion of which are in print, but which still require specialist skills on the part of the reader. An introduction to themes and sources will enhance awareness of how much can be done with the materials already published. As far as the earlier period is concerned, little sustained, collective, research has been undertaken on the texts and institutions before the twelfth century. This has limited our general understanding of what was in reality the protean period of ecclesiastical reform, when the foundations for the scholastic revolution were laid.
This project has been prompted by some disconcerting changes in the international research context. The threat to the Institute for Medieval Canon Law (Munich) and drastic cut-backs in the coverage of medieval legal history at the Max Planck Institute (Frankfurt) have deprived scholars of two mainstays. This has contributed to a lamentable decline in the study of medieval law among postgraduates. For want of training and a forum for on-going discussion of research problems, young scholars are put off by the pressure to complete doctoral research and publish quickly. Even established medievalists avoid full-scale studies because of concerns about the time required for preliminaries such as the establishment of manuscript traditions and the acquisition of formal legal concepts before interrogating texts for their socio-religious, intellectual and political meanings. In addition, there are fewer opportunities than there were fifteen years ago for young scholars to meet experts and learn from them. This diagnosis has been confirmed by the feedback from the large number of postgraduates and research fellows participating in the AHRC National Bids scheme-funded research-training sessions 'Legal Sources and the Historian' organised by the PI at the Warburg Institute. This underlines how large the constituency CLASMA will attract.

We look to extend awareness and knowledge of the significance of the historical study of medieval law in its religious, social and intellectual contexts amongst the broader community of medievalists both during and after the award period.
CLASMA seeks to stimulate the interdisciplinary historical study of medieval canon law against the backdrop of Roman, customary and emerging national legal systems. The scope of the project falls under the remit of history, law, theology and social science.
There is already a website in existence in a preliminary form at the University of Kent under the direction of Dr Bombi. Initially this provides a detailed introduction to the project, advertises the planned colloquia, provides an on-line booking system for those wishing to attend, and provides links to other relevant sites.
It is the intention of the participating members of CLASMA to expand the website over the time of the project and into the future, providing a growing and easily consulted reference tool. This will be accessible by and of use to a cross discipline of academics, students and emerging researchers. Detailed introductions to the themes and sources covered by the colloquia will be posted on the website after each event.
It is likely that individual lectures from each colloquium will be available on the website and in the future these may also be published.
CLASMA therefore seeks to stimulate the interdisciplinary historical study of medieval canon law against the backdrop of Roman, customary and emerging national legal systems.